| It’s only Tuesday, but the anticipation is
already reaching a fever pitch for arguably the two biggest games of the year so far this
season five days from now — Bears at Packers and 49ers at Rams. It has appeared as
though the Bears and 49ers have been sprinkled with fairy dust much of the season. Both
teams have nine victories and are assured of winning seasons — a development few, if
any, so-called experts would have dared to predict at the beginning of the season. And to
say they’ve both been a bit lucky would be the understatement of the year.
But for a long time now in the NFL, a large dose of old-fashioned good fortune has been
a primary factor behind the success of most of the clubs dwelling in the league’s
high-rent district. With the gap between contenders and pretenders becoming about as big
as a pinhole, lucky breaks have often made the ultimate difference.
And it’s no different this season.
There’s also no denying, however, that both the Bears and 49ers have developed
into, at the very least, very good football teams — luck or no luck. And if they can
escape from Lambeau Field and the Dome at America’s Center, respectively, this Sunday
with victories over a pair of teams that almost always seem to thrive on home cooking,
nobody will be talking about how lucky they are.
What do I think is going to happen? Thought you’d never ask.
Let’s start with the Bears’ visit to Green Bay, where they’ve actually
come away victorious the last two seasons, albeit by a mere four points.
Against the Lions at home last Sunday, the Bears looked like also-rans much of the
time, especially on offense, as dropped passes and unimaginative play-calling almost
enabled Detroit to steal its first win of the season.
The Packers, meanwhile, will be coming off a short workweek after coming from behind
against the Jaguars last night, thanks to some vintage Brett Favre magic.
If the Bears are going to have a chance Sunday, they absolutely have to come at the
Packers with a more vertical mindset than they showed in the first game against these two
teams this season in Week Nine — a 20-12 victory by Green Bay.
Early in that game, the Packers’ defensive brain trust made a decision to
basically play eight men in the box the rest of the game after Bears RB Anthony Thomas
burst out of the chute with a couple of quality runs. In essence, they dared the Bears to
beat them with the pass, and the Bears couldn’t come close.
This Sunday, the Bears have to at least make the Packers think they can effectively
connect on a few bombs — a task that could be made easier by the absence of Packers S
LeRoy Butler, a huge thorn in the Bears’ side in Week Nine who is now out for the
season.
Of course, it certainly wouldn’t hurt if rookie WR David Terrell could hold on to
Jim Miller’s passes, which he couldn’t do against the Lions.
As for the 49ers’ visit to St. Louis, it was their failure to hold on to catchable
passes that cost them dearly in their Week Two loss to the Rams — a 30-26 decision in
which they hung tough despite being outgained 425-232.
The major culprit in that game by his own admission was WR Terrell Owens, who dropped
four of the team’s nine catchable passes and went into a major funk after the game.
Don’t expect Owens to screw up again. He has emerged as arguably the game’s most
dangerous wideout, and matched up against the Rams’ high-quality receiving arsenal,
he is going to go out of his way to prove that fact.
The feeling here is that Owens is going to give the Rams’ nicked-up secondary
(safeties Adam Archuleta and Kim Herring and CB Aeneas Williams are all at less than full
strength at the moment) fits. If the Rams dwell too much on Owens, J.J. Stokes (eight
catches vs. the Bills last Sunday night), Tai Streets (first TD of the season vs. Buffalo)
and good-looking rookie TE Eric Johnson are more than capable of picking up the slack.
But the 49ers cannot afford to get into a full-tilt shootout with the Rams, who still
have a more dangerous, well-rounded arsenal, especially on their home carpet. The Niners
are going to have to slow down the game and control the clock to a certain extent with the
legs of Garrison Hearst and (probably) rookie Kevan Barlow.
And somehow, some way, they are going to have to put together an effective pass rush,
which has been this team’s one major weakness. If they can’t get in Kurt
Warner’s face on a regular basis, it says here they will bite the bullet big-time.
Regardless of what happens, these are two games that definitely promise to be worth the
price of admission.
This is one Sunday that can’t come soon enough. |
